Even with a poor string of results, an injury crisis and Xabi Alonso facing the sack, Real Madrid club president Florentino Pérez highlighted Spanish refereeing as the cause of immense “damage” to the Spanish giants.
Los Blancos finally got back to winning ways in La Liga on Sunday evening with a 2–1 win over Alavés. Yet when the final whistle sounded in Vitoria, controversy loomed large.
In the dying moments of the match, Nahuel Tenaglia committed a poor tackle to take down Vinicus Junior inside the box. What appeared to be a clear penalty was not given by referee Víctor García Verdura on the pitch, and Pablo González Fuertes in the VAR room did not even call the official to the monitor.
The denied spot kick ultimately had no bearing on the final result, but Pérez used the opportunity to reignite his crusade against Spanish referees.
“Christmas is also a time to reflect on the things that concern us. And in our case, I can tell you categorically that Real Madrid’s greatest concern is the situation of refereeing in Spain,” the 78-year-old said at the club’s annual Christmas lunch with the media.
“We had a referee on the VAR who threatened to take action against our club the day before a Copa final. Can you imagine this situation in any other country? And as you saw [against Alavés], or in our previous game in Girona, it seems that the trips experienced by Vinicius or Rodrygo in our last two outings are not penalties, it is the refereeing novelty of this season.
“The integrity and decency of our sport is at stake. The image of our football has been seriously damaged. And therefore, justice must be done because only then can we, together, regenerate Spanish football.”
Pérez Reignites Negreira Case Conspiracy
On the topic of refereeing, Pérez jumped at the opportunity to bring Barcelona’s Negreira case back into the spotlight. The Catalans are under formal investigation for allegedly bribing José María Enríquez Negreira, the former vice president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation refereeing committee.
From 2001–18, Barcelona are suspected of paying a total of €8.4 million (£7.3 million, $9.7 million) to a company owned by Negreira. The club denied any wrongdoing, claiming the payments were for refereeing advice and reports.
“How can we forget the biggest scandal in the history of football in the world? We never will,” Pérez said.
“The Negreira case is undoubtedly the most serious problem in football today, even at international level. As it has been reported these days, today we know that more than €8 million have been paid for technical reports on referees, the most expensive reports in the world, and that they were never even known by the coaches themselves, who were the recipients of the reports.
“The consequences of a case that stains the image of our sport and highlights the need for a radical change in the structures of Spanish refereeing are still fresh in our minds.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Real Madrid President Florentino Perez Reveals Club’s ‘Biggest Concern’.
